City Office of Economic Development Executive Director Ted Carter said Monday he wants Jacksonville to compete for two major Seattle corporate names: Amazon.com Inc. and Starbucks Corp.
He wants to join the running for an Amazon fulfillment center in Duval County and to bring a Starbucks back Downtown.
First, Amazon.
So far, Jacksonville has not publicly made a bid to land one of the large fulfillment centers that Amazon, a global Internet retailer, wants to open around the country. Amazon has said it intends to build at least one in Florida.
Hillsborough and Polk counties have both created incentives packages. Carter said he wasn't aware of any assistance being offered by Jacksonville.
No Florida community was among the sites listed Monday when Amazon.com said it would hire 5,000 workers among 17 fulfillment centers in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, South Carolina, California, Virginia, Texas Kentucky, Indiana and Arizona.
It also said it would hire 2,000 customer service jobs in North Dakota, Washington, West Virginia and Kentucky.
On June 13, Gov. Rick Scott and Seattle-based Amazon.com announced the company proposed to create more than 3,000 full-time jobs and invest more than $300 million in Florida by the end of 2016.
No locations were announced.
Amazon.com, the nation's largest online retailer, has been building 1 million-square-foot centers nationwide.
The order-filling centers are part of its efforts to provide next-day and same-day delivery for customers.
"To make the proposed job creation and investments economically viable, the availability of economic development incentives will be a material factor in any final location decisions," said a news release from the governor's office.
On Monday, it wasn't clear when Amazon would choose a location within the state or whether Hillsborough or Polk counties were front-runners.
"If there's a second round, we want to be a part of it," Carter said.
Second, Starbucks.
Carter said he wants Seattle-based Starbucks, which has operated and closed two locations Downtown, to open again.
Starbucks closed its shop at 11 E. Forsyth St. in 2008 and a shop at the Landing in 2011.
"We want them back Downtown," Carter said.
He said two economic development office representatives, Corey Craig and Ed Randolph, met with Starbucks executives in March at an International Council of Shopping Centers event in Atlanta. He said there would be further talks about site requirements.
"We don't have any shortage of locations," he said, mentioning the Laura Street Trio as a potential site. A development group wants to redevelop the vacant buildings and the old Barnett Bank Building.
Carter said the office would work on the Starbucks location with the new Downtown Investment Authority, which awaits the anticipated Aug. 19 start date of its newly hired executive director as well as Council-approved funding.
Carter, who was appointed by Mayor Alvin Brown in November and confirmed by City Council in February, is the first executive director of the new Office of Economic Development.
Carter most recently was executive managing director for the CBRE global real estate services company's Washington, D.C., office, where he led sales, marketing and business development for the Public Institutions and Education Solutions Group.
Before that, he was CBRE's South Florida market leader. And before that, he was president and CEO of the quasi-public National Capital Revitalization Corp. in D.C., which focused on development and redevelopment of several signature projects.
Along with other roles, he was deputy campaign manager and chief operating officer in 1996 for President Bill Clinton's re-election campaign. Brown, who appointed Carter, is a former senior adviser to Clinton.
As executive director of the Office of Economic Development, he is responsible for managing the City's day-to-day economic development functions.
Brown and Council created the Downtown Investment Authority to manage development within the City's Downtown boundaries.
Carter talked during an interview about developing a strategic plan to "be on the offensive" to market Jacksonville.
"People don't know Jacksonville," he said of nationwide and global companies in general.
He said the mayor, the Council president and area CEOs can travel to market the City and at the same time, the City can leverage its visibility through events like The Players Championship, Jacksonville Jaguars games and other events.
He called for a multipronged economic-development strategy.
"It's basic blocking and tackling," he said.
"Everyone is part of that," he said, specifically naming Brown, himself and Jerry Mallot, president of the JAXUSA Partnership, the economic development arm of the JAX Chamber.
Carter's countywide focus includes AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center. In June 2010, Council approved a 25-year agreement with Hillwood to serve as master developer of about 4,475 acres owed by the City at Cecil, a former Naval Air Station.
Carter said that given Amazon's national expansion strategy, the mayor's office has "reached out" to Hillwood to proactively market Cecil Commerce Center as a site.
Jacksonville and Duval County haven't assembled the public incentives plans that Central Florida counties have created.
Tampabay.com reported that Hillsborough County has assembled two packages of incentives to recruit the retailer to build a center near Interstate 75 in Ruskin, near Tampa.
Tampabay.com reported that Hillsborough County economic development officials said the company is proposing to spend $200 million on a new, 1 million-square-foot distribution warehouse and equipment. In all, the company says it would create 1,000 permanent jobs there, ranging in pay.
Tampabay.com said Hillsborough is not guaranteed to land Amazon.
In another bid, Polk County commissioners approved an incentive package for what is described as a smaller distribution center with fewer jobs in Lakeland.
Tampabay.com reported July 17 that materials from the state indicated Amazon was expected to announce a location or locations by the end of the month.
Ron Barton, former executive director of the defunct Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, now is the economic development director of Hillsborough County.
He told Tampabay.com in the July 17 report that he expected to hear soon whether Amazon has chosen Ruskin, a location it identified on its own without county assistance. He said it was his understanding the company wants to break ground as soon as possible with the hope of operating as soon as the 2014 Christmas holiday shopping season.
"We hope we will hear good news from Amazon, hopefully in the next couple of weeks," he said.
Barton could not be reached Monday for comment.
@MathisKb
(904) 356-2466